Wong Pau Kin Stone House

Wong Pau Kin Stone House

Wong Pau Kin Stone House is a Guangzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Wong Pau Kin Stone House is located at No. 13, Kingsin Lane, Wenchang South Road, Liwan District.

The residence of Wong Pau Kin on Kingsin Lane, Wenchang Road in Guangzhou’s Liwan area is a typical stone building. Despite being nearly a hundred years old, the overall structure remains well-preserved and was designated as a Guangzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 2003. The Wong Pau Kin Stone House was built in 1912, covering an area of nearly 400 square meters. The towering building, constructed from rectangular granite blocks, stands three stories high. Compared to ordinary Lingnan-style architecture, the stone house has relatively spacious floor spacing—the first floor is about four meters high, and the entrance is flanked by two grand granite columns. According to Wong Pau Kin’s daughter, the stone house was built using leftover materials from the construction of the Sacred Heart Cathedral and the Customs House. Her father, Wong Pau Kin, was a Western medicine practitioner and a collector. The stone house was designed by his second elder uncle in the United States, giving it a strong American architectural influence, while also incorporating features of Lingnan residential design. The renowned performing artist Mei Lanfang once visited the stone house and even personally inscribed and gifted a fan to Wong Pau Kin. On-site, I observed that although the exterior of the Wong Pau Kin Stone House has a Western-style villa appearance, its interior decoration reflects Lingnan style—for example, rosewood screens and floor-to-ceiling Manchurian windows spanning over ten square meters. Above the square door of the main hall, there was originally a redwood-carved roof ornament depicting “two dragons playing with a pearl,” which was originally intended by Guangdong’s Zhenfu Envoy Long Jiguang as a gift for Yuan Shikai. However, after Yuan declared himself emperor and his reign was short-lived, Long Jiguang instead presented it to his good friend Wong Pau Kin.

In July 2002, it was announced as part of the sixth batch of Guangzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Units by the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Guangzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Units